DENVER, CO OCTOBER 30, 2005 – Philadelfia Eagles Donovan McNabb throws the ball to Terrell Owens in the 4th quater of the game against Denver Broncos at Invesco Field Mile high on Sunday. Denver own 49-21.

By now, the Broncos’ defense is well accustomed to facing elite NFL quarterbacks.

They’ve played Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers and Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning, all in the top 10 in both passer rating and total yards. Denver has a 4-3 record in games against those players, including a two-game split to Rivers’ Chargers.

Their next opponent, Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb, is ly the NFL’s 11th-rated passer, though Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said McNabb is as dangerous as any quarterback his team has faced.

“He’s right up there,” McDaniels said. “He’s very accurate. He’s a pocket passer that throws the ball down the field probably as well as anyone we’ve played.”

McNabb has thrown for just over 3,000 yards, with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

“He’s a great challenge because you’ve got to keep him in the pocket, but he’s so good there, that it’s a double-edged sword,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to have to play really good defense – cover well, rush well, force him to get the ball out maybe a little quicker than he wants to, and maybe disrupt something in the passing game, because they’re one of the best passing teams we’ve played, certainly, if not the best.”

The Broncos’ secondary has been able to keep opposing quarterbacks from making big plays. They have allowed only five passes of 35 yards or longer, and only one longer than 40 yards.

“That whole group takes a lot of pride in not giving up a lot of passes over their head,” McDaniels said. “The veteran secondary understands the value of not giving up a big play.”

Footnote: Receiver Eddie Royal, linebacker D.J. Williams and safety David Bruton, all of whom missed Wednesday’s practice, returned to the field Thursday. Cornerback Ty Law and fullback/linebacker Spencer Larsen were both held out of practice.

When New England won the toss, Patriots captain Devin McCourty thought: “As soon as I saw it was heads, I was like: I’ve seen this before. I know what happens at the end of this one.” Does the NFL need to change its overtime rules?

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, despite being the only center among the NBA’s top 10 in assists per game (7.7) while leading also leading the Northwest division leaders in scoring (19.6 per game) and rebounding (10.0 per contest), ranked No. 7 among Western Conference frontcourt players in the NBA All-Star Game fan voting (1.128 million votes) as of Jan. 17.